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Retirement: The Scary Numbers Behind The Soothing Lies

The state of Americans’ retirement accounts is dismal is how ConvergEx’s Nick Colas begins his critically important-to-read note on the reality that millions face. According to an early 2012 study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, Colas notes only 58% of us are currently saving money for retirement – and 60% of those that are have less than $25,000. Thirty percent have less than $1,000. Needless to say, it’s a far cry from the 8x-10x final earnings suggested by most retirement planners. So why are we so far behind? Americans aren’t exactly known for impressive savings habits, but that alone does not explain our poor preparation for retirement. Rather, Colas cites a general lack of financial literacy, including basic understandings of savings growth and retirement income needs, superseding financial obligations, and basic behavioral finance biases keep us from putting cash away. But if we keep up at this pace, you can expect the ongoing political debate about Social Security to take on new and more strident tones.